With 10 SKOB teams competing across the VAFA it’s hard for them all to make it to the finals, but for those teams who are in the running, all made solid progress towards September action by taking wins by margins large, medium, small and by forfeit. For those out of the running the wins didn’t come, but certainly not for lack of effort. In summary, the Men’s Seniors and Reserves both had huge wins over Caulfield, the Academy team received a forfeit. The Saints Gold had a good win over fellow finals aspirant Collegians, whilst the Saints Blue couldn’t get past the lions. In the Under 19’s the Premier team snuck home against Old Brighton whilst the Div 2 and Div 4’s went under at Basil St. The Green Machine were again low on numbers and hoping to bounce back next week.
In the seniors, SKOB were dominant. Simply too strong for a severely undermanned and depleted Caulfield Grammarians side who have struggled this season. With percentage becoming an ever more important factor for SKOB, this was an opportunity that had to be taken and taken it was. Four quarters and 26 goals in perfectly fine football conditions - almost spring like was the weather - SKOB took full toll on the opposition and picked up some vital percentage to go along with the 4 premiership points.
After a disappointing late fade out the previous week, SKOB were keen to atone from the get go and that they did with a stunning first half that was replicated in the second. Multiple goal kickers were found across the board - no less than 8 players hit the scoreboard more than once each - with
Shaun Kennedy helping himself to 7 majors and Patty Kerr 4 as the big forwards dined out on some fantastic service from their team mates up the ground. There are some tough weeks ahead for the Seniors as they are still due to play the top two in the final month of football, but Saturday’s outing will have given plenty of encouragement for the coaching staff as SKOB found a way to kick a big score - something they haven’t been able to do for a few weeks. Best players for SKOB were Ben Mansfield, Rob Larcher, Shaun Kennedy, Tom Jok, Bill Coates and Sam Cameron.
Caulfield Ginies! - Zach boots 10 in Ressie’s Romp
The signs were there from earlier in the day as the Reserves enjoyed a goal feast at the hands of an undermanned Caulfield Grammarians. Zach Ginies had the perfect day out with a haul of 10 goals, whilst Angus Hart (7), Jettson Brown (6) and Ethan Bowden (5) all kicked big bags which on any other day would be the lead story. The Ressie’s percentage received a massive 34 point boost from the huge win and has for now, put them into the top four. They have a tough month ahead of them with games against teams in, or just outside, the four which will ultimately decide their fate, but for now, the result from Saturday could not have been better. Best players for Coach Clough were Zach Ginies, Ethan Bowden, Angus Hart, Liam O'Neill, Jettson Brown and James Ritchie.
Our man Yanni filed this report
In Round 14, SKOB’s Reserve welcomed back some players from their travels, and the boys were at full strength ahead of their clash with Caulfield Grammarians. The field was in peak condition after a few days of sun, though the wind held consistent, setting the pace of each quarter. Coach Clough arrived with a straightforward approach, knowing that a big percentage boost could launch the boys into a top-four finals berth. This would be achieved if the boys win by a whopping 18 goals and the result in their next match against Scotch.
The precedent of the Caulfield Grammarians side almost led them to forfeit the day before. Luckily, they managed to get 18 players on the field. The game kicked off to a jaw-dropping start; Liam Mahoney opened the scoreline once again, and the boys' relentless onslaught didn't let up. Liam O’Neill landed a center square bomb, Jettson Brown with two lovely set shots, and a nice welcome back present from James Hill and William Cooper, with their outstanding forward pressure, led the SKOB’s boys to a mammoth 10-goal lead by the end of the first quarter.
The boys came into the second quarter with a goal in mind: 'To enjoy the moment of leading but to stay disciplined and focus on their structure.' Caulfield Grammarians now had the wind, but it didn’t faze the boys as they continued to set the tone and carried the momentum through to the second half.
For the third and fourth Quarters, the goal festivities went off! The boys began sharing the goals around as they all knew the result was theirs. Some of the highest goal scorers included Ethan Bowden with 5, Jettson Brown with 6, Angus Hart with 7, and the golden boot went to Zachary Ginies with a new, well-earned personal best of 10 goals.
You couldn’t have asked for a better team performance from the boys as they made a statement to the top four and the comp with a final score of:
SKOB’s: 39-17-251
Caulfield Grammarians: 4-3-27
Best Players: Z. Ginies, E. Bowden, A. Hart, L. O'Neill, J. Brown, J. Ritchie
Our Academy team took a trip to Caulfield to “host” a game against Old Brighton. Unfortunately the Brighton team were missing a few too many to be able to field a full team and had to forfeit. The two sides then had a scratch game for some extra practice. The Academy have a huge match this week against Old Scotch before a last round bye. A win this week will see them a game behind the top two who then play each other in the final round, so the game against Scotch takes on massive repercussions with the winner likely to snare a double chance in the finals.
Saints Gold outshine Purple haze
The Saints Gold had a tricky fixture at Old Rigret against Collegians who have proved themselves to be more than comfortable in the Premier Division this season. The Lions came into the game in fourth spot - looking to claim a top scalp and strengthen their finals chances. For the Saints, they just needed to keep the pressure on top spot - which will probably be decided on the last day of the home and away season when they play Kew away. The first half was a tight affair and the Saints found it hard to shake the plucky Lions who were giving as good as they got. With some class up forward however, the Saints put the pedal down in the third term and drew away. Kate Stanton and Sarah Cameron formed a formidable partnership around the goals for the Saints, booting 6 of the team’s 8 snags between them. Emily Eaves, in a best on ground performance, was the other goal kicker with 2, and the Saints had the Lions measure in the finish. Best for the Gold were the aforementioned Eaves, also Zara Guss, Ash Byers, Bree Doyle, Eliza Straford and the irrepressible Maggie McDonough.
Eight changes for the Saints Blue as Coach Strauss once again had to frantically shuffle the magnets around. It’s been a challenge most weeks for the Blues as the European summer has played havoc with availabilty. Still they put up a great effort against the Lions and were competitive most of the day. Better players for the Saints were Remi Fiorentini, Charlie Lupson , Brooke Stringer, Brige Snell, Steph Chong, Alex Bland. It’s great to see a number of players up from the Saints Green who are developing their skills at the higher level and will continue to improve. Alas for the Green they were unable to get a team on the park and will hope to have the numbers this week as players return.
From the clouds! - 19 Prem's steal a vital four points
Brighton Beach Oval is often a venue where you hear of teams coming from the clouds to storm home in the last quarter and win. But it’s also a very tricky ground to master and teams can come unstuck if they don’t handle the conditions well. At 3/4 time it was looking shaky for the SKOB Under 19 Premier team as they stared down the barrel of a second straight defeat at the hands of a hard to beat Old Brighton. But storm home they did, kicking 5 goals to zero in the last quarter to sneak home by 5 points. It was a critical win for SKOB as the competition is incredibly even. Brighton are in 9th position but only a game outside the four - that’s how tight it is. Best for SKOB were Roshan Fernandes, Harry Trotter, Jack Palmer, Seb Duffy, Harry Kirkwood and Billy Bryan, whilst it was terrific to see Zane Greenham - son of former SKOB great Paul Greenham - make his debut.
At Basil St, the Div 2 and Div 4 teams battled out against St Bedes and Brunswick respectively. With about half a dozen boys playing both games it was clearly always going to be a battle for SKOB against much stronger opposition. The boys came out the wrong side of the scoreboard but both gave good showings, particularly in the Div 4 game where the young SKOB outfit took it right up to Brunswick - a team that had beaten them by over 20 goals last time. The game was in the balance until the final minute when Brunswick scored a goal to seal the game. In Div 2, the better players were Sam Jones, Hamish Toohey, Ronan Smythe, Connor Lynch, Harry Ryan and James Andriske. In Div 4 for Coach Kerr the best were Noah Pearce, Max Timlock, Jackson O’Malley, Patty Shaw, Oli Garlick and captain Tommy Whelan.
